Artistic Chiang Rai

Back out of the mountains we had to return our little Mitsubishi and spent a few days in the artistic town of Chiang Rai. It is a really small quaint town which seems very authentic and unassuming. The artist Chalermchai Kositpipat, has had a big influence on the town, from white temple, a wonderful modern take on a classic Thai Temple design, to the clock tower in the centre of town which serves as a very opulent roundabout.
His apprentice, Putha Kabkaew also created the wonderful Blue Temple, not as much of a political statement but still very beautiful.

We also visited the Black House by another local artist Thawan Duchanee, the building was amazing built entirely from teak. He filled it with assorted animal hides and Hunting Trophies, we were less touched by this kind of art. There was another building which housed a large number of massive shells which should probably have stayed on the beach. The compound was nice enough if a little odd.

Lastly on our tour of Chiang Rais arty temples we stopped at the Wat Huay Pla Kang,a massive Buddha Statue (that we later saw from the plane!) you can climb to enjoy the views along with a Wat and a Pagoda, all decorated with intricate dragons and flowers. Very different from the more traditional Temples in the rest of Thailand but really equally stunning.Read more